Was Gonna Be Live From the Enchanted Princess 10/29 to 11/5 but`....

[Doug R.]

Note: I have been accused of being a “Princess Cheerleader” so take that into account when reading this. I am also not a wine connoisseur or coffee snob, so I am not qualified to speak in that regard. I will, however, endeavor to provide an honest account of my observations and thoughts.

pike

Day 1 – We’re Off the Captain Shouted!

We began our journey from our home in South Jersey (Exit 3 on the NJ Turnpike for those who know the joke). Not limited by weight restriction Marj decided to see how much weight my 72 year-old old body could lift. After saying goodbye to our fur babies, we headed up the Turnpike and after two hours we arrived at the port just before 11 am. quickly had our luggage checked and proceeded to park almost in front of the terminal entrance. We quickly proceeded down the  green lane and rapidly checked in and whisked to the elite/platinum/suite lounge. We boarded a little bit after 11 am. There is a sign as you head up the escalator to the ship, “Brooklyn Cruise Terminal – Fuhgeddaboudit”.

One onboard we proceeded to our cabin which was ready for occupancy, a Mini suite on the Marina deck with the angled balcony. We watched the safety video on TV and proceeded to our muster station which is the Capri dining room. Since we were already there, we decided to stay and have our embarkation lunch there rather than joining the scrum at the buffet we it was, as others have said, a nice relaxing start to the cruise.  However, we did have dinner in the buffet.

Evening entertainment in the Theater was a comedian who was good.

Takeaways and Observations:

·         The Enchanted Princess is a very beautiful ship and we especially loved the awesome atrium.

·         Captain of the ship is Mario Ciruzzi, who succeeded Commodore Nash for this voyage.

·         The Cruise Director is Jody Miles from South Africa and is funny and lively.

·         There are only 1,700 passengers, including 11 children out of a possible 3,600.

[EllieinNJ]

Are you continuing with the 11/5 cruise?  There seems to be many who are doing a B2B. We are on that cruise and told the ship is almost full.

[dog]

Following 

[paradiselivin1]

10 hours ago, Doug R. said:

Exit 3 on the NJ Turnpike for those who know the joke)

Yup. Old exit 8A back in the day when Plainsboro was still a farm town.. we'll be on Enchanted for 3 weeks next month so interested in following. Enjoy.

[geocruiser]

Have a great cruise.

[tamsno]

Thanks for taking the time to do this.  I’m Elite with Princes but have never been on the “big ships.”   Plan Enchanted this time next year and look forward to following along with you.  Have a great cruise.  

[MissP22]

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[dog]

This is our last day on the Enchanted Princess, a sea day.  We have had the most amazing weather this past week.

We made all the ports and thoroughly enjoyed everything about this cruise. 
Thanks to Doug for sharing his impressions in 1 st post.

 

[Roberto256]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:17 AM, Doug R. said:

Note: I have been accused of being a “Princess Cheerleader” so take that into account when reading this.

 

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

[Doug R.]

6 hours ago, Roberto256 said:

 

Thanks for the heads-up!

 

Good to see you, Roberto! 😁

[Doug R.]

On 11/3/2022 at 2:36 PM, EllieinNJ said:

Are you continuing with the 11/5 cruise?  There seems to be many who are doing a B2B. We are on that cruise and told the ship is almost full.

We wish, but social obligations and finances do not permit.

[Doug R.]

Day 2 - Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is one of our favorite cities and we have visited here several times. We had two tickets for a mansion visit leftover from our last visit, but Doug the Wonder Husband left the tickets on board the ship, where they would be safe. So Marj shopped while I dropped.  This was our only formal night, even so I saw very few men in suits or tuxes. I cannot comment on compliance in the main dining rooms since we dined in Bistro Sur la Mer. The food was excellent, but the ambiance was horrible as the bistro is open to the atrium and all its noise and hubbub. Certainly not a spot for a romantic dinner. It is funny though that this didn’t bother us when we had lunch at Gigi’s directly across from the bistro on deck 7, different expectations. Princess really needs to rethink this venue.  The evening show was “Spotlight Bar”, a musical that chronicled life of a bar through the years. We enjoyed it very much. Tendering was painless we got our boarding numbers and were called before we even sat down to wait, again there were only 1,700 passengers.

[memoak]

7 minutes ago, Doug R. said:

Day 2 - Newport, Rhode Island

Newport is one of our favorite cities and we have visited here several times. We had two tickets for a mansion visit leftover from our last visit, but Doug the Wonder Husband left the tickets on board the ship, where they would be safe. So Marj shopped while I dropped.  This was our only formal night, even so I saw very few men in suits or tuxes. I cannot comment on compliance in the main dining rooms since we dined in Bistro Sur la Mer. The food was excellent, but the ambiance was horrible as the bistro is open to the atrium and all its noise and hubbub. Certainly not a spot for a romantic dinner. It is funny though that this didn’t bother us when we had lunch at Gigi’s directly across from the bistro on deck 7, different expectations. Princess really needs to rethink this venue.  The evening show was “Spotlight Bar”, a musical that chronicled life of a bar through the years. We enjoyed it very much. Tendering was painless we got our boarding numbers and were called before we even sat down to wait, again there were only 1,700 passengers.

In my opinion Bistro La Mer is way more open to passengers passing through that the pizza location. Plus you are paying extra for the bistro

[Doug R.]

Just now, memoak said:

In my opinion Bistro La Mer is way more open to passengers passing through that the pizza location. Plus you are paying extra for the bistro

 

Now that I think about it, that is correct. Our dinner was part of a promotion so we had no money invested in it.

[Doug R.]

Day 3 – Boston

Since we had never been in Boston before, we decided to take the hop on-hop off trolly, we got a good overview of Boston with excellent commentary by the driver. However, it turned out that a large number of tourist attractions are closed on Monday, so we opted to return to the ship. It was Halloween and the staff went all-out decorating with each department competing for the best display as voted by the passengers. Marj decked herself out in her flamingo finest and I wore a long sleeve tee that said “This is my Halloween Costume”. The staff dressed up or wore masks including the wait staff in the MDR. We were impressed by our waiters Charlamagne and Lea that we requested them for the remainder of the cruise and we saw them at breakfast in the buffet. The main entertainment for the evening was an Elton John tribute which we skipped as we saw the real thing last year. We lounged in the piazza enjoying the music and people watching. I was somewhat grumpy that they had Monday night football on TV and not the World Series, I managed to watch the game on my phone.

[Doug R.]

Sail Away from Red Hook, Brooklyn

Edited November 6, 2022 by Doug R.

[Doug R.]

Inside Trinity Church Newport

[Doug R.]

Boston 

 

Edited November 7, 2022 by Doug R.

[Doug R.]

Halloween

[dog]

FYI- one person in our travel group tested positive for Covid today. Was on this cruise & flight with us.